Mooring



P. J. GRIFFIN March 8, 1932.

MOORING Fi ed Feb. 26, 1950 Patented Mar. 8, 1932 UNITEDFSTATESS PATRICKJ. GRIFFIN, or BOSTON, MASSAOHUSETTS," ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF 'r'o.

ATENrjoFFlcE EDWARD L. LOGAN, or BOSTON, MAssAcHUsE'rTs j I MOORIN GApplication filed February 26,- 1930. T SeriaIIlVo. 431,433. r i

This invention relates-to mooring lighter than air craft and to mooringmasts as well as to means providing terminal facilities for such craft.

Objects of the present invention are to provide improved means formooring lighter than air craft; to provide a mooring which may beraised'and lowered to facilitate landing and taking 05 of such craft; toprovide means for supporting the body of the craft for movement aboutthe mooring and also for holding the body from upward movement; toprovide improved means for accommodating passengers and for handlingfreight at a mooring; to provide apparatus of this general classembodying means for indicating the lifting power of such craft; and alsoto provide apparatus of the class described having an improvedconstruction and arrangement of parts.

In the drawings: a

Fig. i 1 is a side elevation of apparatus for mooring air craft; 7

Fig. 2is a top plan View of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the cradles for supporting thecraft;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through one of the tracks showing acradle in end elevation; and

Fig. 5 is a view of a detail of construction.

The apparatus selected for. illustration comprises a framework 10comprising suitable columns 11 and bracing members 12 arranged in anyapproved manner for supporting a platform 13 at a suitable distanceabove the ground to provide for supporting an air craft in a positionfor movement about its mooring without danger of engagement with trees,buildings or other objects upon the ground. A vertical hydrauliccylinder 14 is centrally disposed within the framework 10. A piston 16is mounted within this cylinder and carries at its upper end an eye 17which is connected to the piston by swivel connection 18. An enclosure19 adapted to serve as a waiting room is circular in outline and isdisposed concentrically about the piston and cylinder, the latterextending through the roof of this enclosure. A landing platform orpassenger deck 21 is also supported by the platform 13 and extendspreferably entirely around the waiting room 19. Disposed on the platform,13 concentricallyabout the piston and outside the landing deck aredouble tracks 22,

'23 on which the'cradles 24 are adapted to operate movably to support anair craft such as the dirigible 26. As shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and4 the cradles 24 may besimilar to railway trucks comprising axles 27having flanged wheels 28 fast thereon with journals (not shown) disposedoutside of the wheels. The trucks are provided with side frames 29carrying journal boxes 31 .which receive the journals. The truck body32-is provided with a body bolster 33 which rests upon the truck bolster34, the ends of the latter being supported upon springs 36 which arecarried by the side frames 29. in the usual manner. Undergaif wheels-37'are rotatably mounted upon a transverse shaft which is connected bymeans of a rod39 to the body bolster 33. The wheels 37 operate in aT-shaped slot formed between the rails -of each track by; a pair ofcenter rails41 .having inwardly directed upper flanges 42. 1' I Anchorirons 43 are secured at the ends of the body of each truck to receivelashing for [holding the craft to the truck. Flexible lashing strips-44are secured tothe anchor irons 43. The adjacent ends of these strips arereduced intheform of tongues 46 which are adapted to be secured togetherby a buckle or other. approved fastening device 47.

Gauges 48 are supported by suspension elements 49 affixed to the strips44 above the fasteningdevice 47. Each gauge carries a hook to v 51 whichis engageable'with an eye 52 affixed to the lashing below the buckle47.,

In the operation of the apparatus the plunger 16 isoperatedby controls48 within the enclosure. 19." When a dirigible for example is ready tobemoored the plunger. 16 is elevated above the platform 13"so that thenose of the dirigiblemaybe secured to the eye 17 without danger ofdamage to the dirigible by unintentional contact with the platform 13 orother portions. ofthe framework 10. Once the nose ofthe dirigible issecured in this manner the piston 16 is lowered byfluid delivered to thecylinder 14: thereby pulling the nose of the dirigible toward theplatform 13. It will be seen that when the nose has been lowered in thismanner the lashing strips 44 may be thrown over the body of thedirigible and secured together thereby securely lashing the dirigible tothe movable cradles 44. It will also be evident that when supported inthis manner a craft of this type is free to move about its mooring so asto lie in the wind and at the same time to be movably' supported.

When the dirigible is about to take off the hooks 51 are connected totheeyes 52 and the fastening devices 47 are disconnected. It is thenpossible by reading the gauges 48 to ascertain whether the ship istrimmed properly to rise with the plunger 16. These gauges also enablean operator to know the speed at which the plunger .16 should moveupwardly. In this way it is possible to avoid damage to the ship byhaving the tail shoot upwardly when the lashings are released or byraising the nose fast enough to drag the ship against some portion ofthe structure 10. WVhen the readings of the gauges 48 are found to besatisfactory the hooks and eyes 51, 52 are disconnected and the plunger16 is raised at the proper speed to keep the ship trimmed while it isbeing raised to a position well above the platform 13. After this it isnecessary merely to disconnect the nose from the eye 17 to free thecraft from its lnoorlng.

I claim:

1. The combination with a mooring for the nose of an airship, of lashingstrips adapted to be brought together about the body of the ship,releasable means for securing the lashing strips together, gauges, andmeans for interposing the gauges in the lashings for indicating thebuoyancy of the ship.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, and movable means forsupporting the ship, the lashings being afiixed to the movable means.

Apparatus of the class described comprising a framework, a verticalpower cylinder within the framework, a piston in the cylinder, a mooringconnected to the piston, circular tracks on the framework and con-.centric with the mooring-trucks on the tracks for supporting a craft,and a passenger deck ly coplanar therewith.

4. Apparatus of the class described comprising a substantiallyhorizontal platform disposed at an elevation well above the ground to besubstantially clear of trees, buildings and like objects on the ground.a structural framework for supporting the platform in this position, aplunger movable vertically through the platform between a position inwhich the upper end of the plunger is spaced above the platform adistance approximately to align with the nose of a ship to be mooredwhen in mooring position adjacent the platform and a higher position inwhich the ship may move freely about the platform, means within theframework for operating the plunger between these positions circulartracks on the platform concentric about the plunger, wheeled cars onthese tracks, undergaff wheels on the cars engageable withsome of thetracks for restraining upward movement, and means for securing theforward portion of the body of the ship to be moored to said cars.

5. Apparatus of the class described comprising a substantiallyhorizontal platform disposed at an elevation well above the ground to besubstantially clear of trees, buildings and like objects on the ground,a structural framework for supporting the platform in this position, aplunger movable vertically through the platform between a position inwhich the upper end of the plunger is spaced above the platform adistance approximately to align with the nose of a' ship to be mooredwhen in mooring position adjacent the platform and higher position inwhich the ship may move freely about the platform, means wvithin theframework for operating the plunger between these positions, circulartracks on the platform concentric about the plunger, wheeled cars onthese tracks, undergalf wheels on the cars engageable with some of thetracks for restraining upward movement, a waiting room on the platformextending about the plunger, and a passenger deck on the platformextending between the waiting room and the tracks, the passenger deckbeing substantially coplanar with the tracks.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 21st day of February, 1930.

PATRICK J. GRIFFIN.

